The Shadow and the Ghost (Preview)
by FrozenLightningRai
Summary: Madoka's wish to remove the existence of Witches had its intended effect, but a reality without darkness could not exist. One year after Tartarus vanished, it reappears and begins to manifest itself in the void of the Witch. Now, Persona Users and Magical Girls must vanquish the tower once more, or allow Nyx to bring about an end to Madoka's new universe. (Minimal OC, no ships)
1. Birth of a new Great Shadow

**Author's Note:**Hello, hello.

Prepare for quite a read for an author's note, or you can skip straight to the tl;dr at the end. Either's okay, but there's some rambling that some might like.

_To any involved persons who are patiently (or to those who are sharpening their pitchforks as they read this) waiting for a new chapter of something else._

Yes. I haven't updated Two Sides of a Coin or Of Meisters and Weapons in quite some time. I'm quite aware. I'm on a little stumbling block on Of Meisters and Weapons, it just isn't coming out the way I want it to, it just... I don't know. I keep having to stop because it just isn't working. I don't know why, but I just can't.

I hope you guys have been keeping track of my distraction stories. The list goes from .Hack/, to Before the Genocide, to the Rocket Sagas, to Monster Girl Quest, then to Soul Eater, and now, this Post-Persona 3 cross Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I've got a bunch of distractions, of which, I might even stop .Hack/ altogether, which is unfortunate, but it needs a reboot. It can't go on as is. Someone can take the old version for all I care, but when I reboot it, it'll be 200% better. Maybe. Possible. All I know is that there's a bunch of elements that aren't needed, and complicate the plot further than it needed to be. Anywho, that's that.

Um... as for Monster Girl Quest, I've sort of gotta work out Chapter 8's kinks or forget it and move on to replace it later. Either way, Balthazar is gone. Sorry not sorry. Um... Yeah, I think I'll get around to that soon. I've moved, and my roommates are keen on making me watch only the best shows (BBC's Sherlock, omigod, SO GOOD).

_To any uninvolved persons from any prior stories who are new readers_.

NOW. You want an explanation for this, dear readers. Or perhaps, 'you're new, and you've no idea what a P3xPMMM is doing here, and it just caught your fancy, you're a new reader, and what the hell was all that above?' ...Well, don't worry about it. I'm a bit slow.

Anywho, I've watched all of the Madoka movies, the show, and have, to some degree, delved into the theories, trivia, and observations that the fanbase has had to give. Suffice to say, I loved the anime. I am also in progress of a playthrough of Persona 3 Portable, and will be following it up with a Persona 3 FES playthrough. Legit stuff here. Like, I know minimal spoilers of it, and I'm enamored with every character. I WANT TO KNOW MORE. And essentially, I loved the two concepts, and decided to play a little border fusions in between, and wanted to see how far it could potentially go.

What you see here is a preview of a short project that I'll be working on in my downtime between my MGQ breaks. I've only done one half of this preview, and it takes place from the Persona User's perspective, just before they cross boundaries between worlds. Shortly to come will be the Puella Magi's perspective of the same general time frame. Now, my time is limited, sort of, but I plan on using a lot of my free time to wrap up Puella Magi's end, and I'll release that. Depending on the reception, I'll make this a thing. Remember. There is a cause and effect for everything, even if it doesn't reveal itself right away.

Also, heads up, one OC so far, in the Persona universe. Isshin Akiyama. Kindof hard to work with what I want to when no one has the capabilities I need them to have. Minimalist in nature, be assured. I hate creating too much of an echo, and there's almost nothing revealed about the Shadow Operatives... I may have to do the same in the Puella Magi reality as well, but we'll see. It might be taking care of itself.

tl;dr: I've got writers block on Soul Eater, MGQ is just not sitting right with me, my old .Hack/ fic is being rebooted, I've got a bunch of distraction projects, and this is a preview project for something a few months down the road. Also, I moved. Yay.

Anyways, I've distracted you long enough. Enjoy!

* * *

_Arcane._

_Straightforward._

_Two sides can exhibit two different faces, if properly observed. Where a book can seem red to one party, it may appear black to the other. When one darkness is cast away, a Shadow can be cast in its light._

_Red._

_Black._

_Why mention its color, when the book remains a book?_

The moon bore a dull green color. All movement had stopped. Coffins stood upright, most of them inconceivably in the middle of the road, or on crossways. Two figures stood in the middle of a plaza, both out of place amongst the doldrums of desolation.

"Target Shadow moving across Iwatodai station."

"Sensors are picking up multiple other Shadows beginning to manifest."

"Yamagishi has confirmed the presence of additional Shadows approaching to the Station."

"We're waiting for the target near the rails." A young man in a red tie and black suit cracked his fists. The left side of his head bore a cross-shaped scar, and his posture glowed with power. Next to him stood a slightly meeker man, who in nervous anticipation, fumbled his hands over a gun, wearing a similar suit only without a tie.

"Akihiko, I can count a total of seventeen Shadows who have fully manifested."

Akihiko frowned, and looked at his partner. "Where's Mitsuru?"

The reply was hazed over in static. "There's a group of Shadows at the Mall. Junpei and I have decided to save us all the trouble and take them out for you." The ground shook. "Sanada, it's headed your way now!"

He smiled. "Thanks, Mitsuru." He looked over his partner. "Hey, Akiyama. Shape up. Just think of this like practice." He smiled, swiping a few punches to the air.

Akiyama nodded, and pulled his gun closer to him. "Yes, sir."

Wind from the wing beat of a monstrously large Shadow blasted the two. "All right!" He grinned as the form of a large draconic Shadow approached them. "Let's see how much damage I can do without Caesar, for now."

Akiyama flinched. "You mean… Without your Persona?"

Dozens of chains now rattled and spread themselves around the plaza's streets. The Shadow's true form began to spill out of the darkness, a massive, broad body with ragged wings, skewed with burning red horns. Golden eyes spilled light onto the two as it spread its wings, letting a red fog drift towards them.

For a moment, a drop of sweat slid down Akihiko's cheek. "Ya-Yamagishi?"

Shadows began to form in all of the corners of the plaza. "Is something wrong, Akihiko?"

"You didn't mention that this Shadow was on a higher class of Shadows than the normal ones." Akihiko adjusted himself, then glanced at his partner. "I take it back, you might want to summon your Persona as well."

The Shadow brought one large foot forward. "I'm not sure I understand, Sanada… I'm getting a lot of interference, but even though that Shadow's drawing others, it doesn't appear _that_ big."

Akiyama began to take several steps back, his Evoker drawn, but at his side. "Then does this Shadow have the ability to suppress itself? It's clearly on the same level as those full moon Shadows a couple years ago!" Lightning began to course around the Shadow, but Akihiko spent no time in hesitation. "Come, Ceasar!"

Lightning crashed down over the echo of a gunshot, creating a large explosion. "Sir Sanada!" Akiyama cried out, finally pulling the trigger on his own Evoker. The force of his own Persona's summoning drew the smoke away from Akihiko, revealing his Persona : the white and black ornate Caesar, sword and globe in hand, its armor creating an oppressive aura of strength.

Akiyama's Person revealed itself as well, a dim silhouette of a six-winged man glowing through a black fog, covered in chains. The figure appeared to descend from the sky, although its summoner was directly next to it. Two latticed swords fell from the heavens, landing next to its murky hands.

"Let's take the usual formation! Mitsuru, Junpei! Meet up with us at the plaza at 7th!" He called out over his radio. Akiyama took cover behind his Persona, which began to illuminate through its fog just a bit more.

"We can be there in a few minutes. Just hold on until then." Mitsuru ordered while the audible strain of cutting through Shadows also transmitted.

"Give me a boost in defense for now, Akiyama." Akihiko frowned. He drew himself closer to the Shadow as Caeser defended him, bursts of lightning dissipating before Caesar.

"R-right! _Rakukaja_." Akiyama waved his hand as a green light began to envelop Akihiko and Caesar.

Caesar and the Shadow dealt powerful blows, but the Shadow quickly adapted to its foes immunity to electrical attacks. Apparently annoyed, it blasted Caesar, and in turn Akihiko, back with a blast of wind, both of whom were caught by Akiyama and his Persona, although they too were knocked off their feet.

Smaller Shadows now danced around their larger ally, slowly being absorbed into it. The Shadow began to approach Akihiko and Isshin, it's dark aura distorting the moon itself. Several of the weaker Shadows kept their original form momentarily, long enough for an unearthly growl to emanate from it.

"Out of the way, professional badasses coming through!" A massive katana cut through the dark flesh of the Shadow, it's wielder using its momentum to jump off of it. A secondary lashing came from a rapier, quick and precise, leaving a trail of frost in its wake.

"Akiyama, Ahikiko, are you two okay?"

The voice came from a beautiful, young, red haired woman, dressed in formalwear and wielding a rapier. Next to her, a man wearing a baseball jersey and ball cap swung a massive katana effortlessly. The two newcomers quickly cut off the path of the Shadow.

"It's about time you two showed up." Akihiko smiled, pulling himself off the ground.

"Spare me." Mitsuru scoffed sarcastically, cracking a smile. "Isshin Akiyama." She directed her attention while the massive Shadow still recoiled. "Don't focus on buffing our strengths right now. Weaken that Shadow with everything you've got. Junpei, Akihiko, and I will keep its attention for as long as you can sabotage it."

"Yes ma'am." Isshin perked up, Aether returning to its feet as both Junpei and Mitsuru raised an Evoker to their heads.

"Trismegistus!"

"Artimisia!"

Two more Personas suddenly appeared in a blast of a wind, while Shadows by the dozen continued to pour into the draconic Shadow. Artimesia, in her cold blue and black dress chained the Shadow with her whip, freezing it in place. Trismegistus, burning in red and golden armor, raised its hand, sending a chaotic black energy into the enemy.

Fuuka's voice echoed to the four. "Be careful. Yukari's team is falling back, so expect a lot more Shadows to appear!"

Mitsuru brandished her rapier. "Fuuka! Where are all of these Shadows even coming from?"

"I'm not completely sure… But I'm sensing a strange presence by the mall. I started to sense it after you and Junpei left…" Fuuka replied. "Whatever it is… It feels… Empty?"

Junpei paused. "Empty?" He placed his sword on his shoulder as if it were a baseball bat. "I don't get it. Does that mean there's no more after this?"

"We'll worry about where the smaller Shadows are coming from after we defeat this one." Akihiko slammed his fist in a palm.

The Shadow, now recovered, grew ominously large. The air around it vibrated as it pulsed with power Ethereal streams of black energy poured into and out of it as the four Personas confronted it in bursts of red, cyan, and white, while suffering toxic-like hazes of purple. The battle raged on for several minutes, but no progress being apparently made against the Shadow.

Without warning, the air cracked and the Shadow froze. Time seemed to stand still as small triangles of amorphous size and color began to form around the five entities.

"What is this?" Mitsuru questioned. While the Shadow had not moved since, she had still not sheathed her rapier.

"Fuuka?" Akihiko asked over his radio. "Hey, Fuuka?"

No response returned to him. Instead, the seeming fabric of reality continued to break apart as a heavy red fog rolled in, concentrating in a red mist along the ground. The green-tinted moon seemed to grow impossibly large, and an incredible visage made the four step back in horror.

The Shadow had faded away, but in its place, the inanely large tower of Tartarus had reappeared out of nothing, only now it was several times larger, and had more towers shooting off the main structure.

"Woah! That's Tartarus! The hell is that thing doing back!?" Junpei yelled out, pointing his sword at the tower.

"Tartarus…" Akiyama repeated.

"I can't get into contact with Fuuka, guys." Akihiko breathed. "For some reason, I don't even have a signal in here, and I can't even hear Juno."

"This is impossible. Tartarus should never have come back… Is it an illusion?" Mitsuru asked, more to herself than to her partners.

The four continued their questioning of the situation due to the Shadow's lack of presence. However, the longer the four continued to remain in the shadow of Tartarus, the more smaller presences began to emerge just out of eyesight.

The Shadow's darkness from before began to re-emerge, but now took a different form in the Tartarus influenced space. Golden began to stream from its pores, creating golden soldiers in the puddles it created. Its wings became slightly more ragged, and its movements became twitchy. Its body converted from its original black color to a golden armor, but its flesh remained as black as the original Shadow had been. Its golden eyes turned blood red, but it shone more prevalent than the fog which had shrouded all of them.

With the Shadow in its new form, caution tape began form around new architecture that was inexplicably rising from the ground around them, as well as tying together bent and folded lampposts and power lines.

"Th-that Shadow…!" Akiyama jumped backwards. In an instant, his Persona broke and dissipated.

"It transformed!" Akihiko observed.

Junpei shook his head in disbelief. "Just what the hell's going on here? First so many Shadows appear and now this thing!"

Mitsuru stepped closer to Akiyama. "I hate to say it, but for now we need to retreat. We've lost control of the situation." She said loudly.

"You're kidding me! We can take this Shadow, we've just got to wait for Yuka-tan and the others to show up!" Junpei pulled back, his katana pointed at the Shadow.

"We can't get into contact with them." Akihiko reminded. "We've no choice but to pull back, if only temporarily. We'll have to wait for this Dark Hour's time limit to run out for now."

A brilliant light began to shine off of the Shadow as it's minion soldiers began to form up in battalions. Its wings began to grow incredibly large, and the ray of light crossed just as Akiyama re-summoned his persona. The ray dazzled and fractured, fading away as the Persona briefly shone brightly.

The Shadow's indifferent attitude merely caused a ball of white lights to coalesce.

"Brace yourselves! It's using an Almighty attack!" Mitsuru commanded, her Persona guarding her. The other Personas followed suit, but more and more white lights converged in the Shadow's attack before it hurtled at the four in a brilliant explosion.

_Light._

_Darkness._

_To every hope, there is an equal amount of despair that consumes it. There are those who fight despair, and there are those who fight using despair, both sides to face a new hope. If one reality breaks free of despair, it only burdens another, compounding on both sides._

Persona End.

Puella Magi Start.


	2. Distortion of a Witch

Before her might, the Wraiths fell, leaving behind small, cube-like black crystals. Purple arrows left streaks in the night sky. A girl with long, onyx-colored hair in white and purple attire jumped from building to building, a tree branch-like bow in her hand. Humanoid creatures altering reality in small pixel-like voids continued to appear, but were dispatched before they could attack.

As the Wraiths continued to spawn into her reality, the girl paused. They were innumerable now. As if sensing a numerical advantage, the Wraiths also paused, as if leering over her in palpable victory.

'_I've never seen so many Wraiths in a single night.'_ A voice commented. '_I won't complain about our Curse intake, but it's extremely curious as to why there are so many now. Two weeks ago, the miasma wasn't this bad._'

The girl ran her free hand in her hair. '_Idle chatter like this won't stop them from appearing._'

With a grim face, she pointed her bow to the heavens, at her wrists, a large bust of purple energy accumulated and rocketed to the sky. Moments later, streaks of purple and black arrows rained upon the earth, the once numerous Wraiths dissipating like smoke. When the downpour ended the city's nightlife had resumed, all none the wiser.

That did not stop the origin of the disembodied voice, a white cat-like being, from leaping to the girl's shoulders. '_That used a lot of energy, Akemi._'

"There should be enough crystals to absorb the curses. It shouldn't be a problem." The girl said, bending over and picking up a black, cube-shaped crystal. She placed near the purple diamond-shaped crystal, and a small wisp of black mist drew migrated to the black crystal.

In the distance, more Wraiths formed, followed by a brief, brilliant flash of red. Akemi observed from her distance as two impractically large spears rose from the ground. Akemi's keen vision allowed her to see a red-haired girl jumping from one of the pillar-serving spears, piercing Wraiths through.

"Kyoko's out as well?" Akemi observed.

The cat-like creature on her shoulders stared at the girl. '_Both Kyoko and Mami are fighting. It seems everyone's taking advantage of the thick miasma tonight._' He observed, slowly passing his eyes further on where golden streaks of light illuminated the nightscape.

Akemi glared at the sparkling golden lights. "Two days ago, the Wraiths were a quarter in number." She drew an arrow, pointing it in the direction of the golden glow. "This number of Wraiths is unnatural."

'_That may not necessarily be true Akemi. If you remember our conversation from the other night, then Wraiths can come and go in flux._' The creature's tail twitched.

"Your nonchalant tone is annoying, Kyubey." She sighed. "Something's caused the change."

'_Are you implying I know something about it, Akemi Homura?_' Kyubey responded.

Homura's finger let go of the string of her bow, an onslaught of arrows raining towards Mami's foes. "There's never been a time where you weren't hiding something from us." She replied, her eyes hooded over.

She jumped from her vantage point, following her arrows, but paused halfway from their destination. Landing on a close-by skyscraper, a twin-tailed blond-haired girl in a white and black vest accentuated by a yellow skirt and black boots stood before her, several guns floating upright.

She smiled. "I appreciate the assist, Akemi, but it wasn't entirely necessary."

Homura simply looked away. "We need to dispatch these Wraiths more efficiently."

"Says the one who took longer to clear her first batch for the night." Mami teased.

Kyubey, almost entirely out of existence from the two, jumped off of Homura's shoulders, peering off into the night. "Kyoko is fighting in the opposite direction." Homura reminded, brushing off Mami's sly smile.

Kyubey's head never turned, his unblinking stare remaining affixed on a blooming phenomenon. In the distance, the object that had fixated him, a white scaffold which indefinitely kept its shape began to erect itself.

Homura and Mami's Soul Gems immediately began to pulse with light. Rays of light began to drift across the three, lazily encompassing them. The sensation was foreign to both Kyubey and Mami, but Homura's eyes widened as the once familiar aura pervaded her.

Behind them, the last magical girl had finished her battle and regrouped with them. Kyoko, wearing a red dress gilded in pink trim and a Pocky in her mouth, stood wearily behind them. "What in the world…?"

Kyubey continued to stare at the still-growing scaffold of light. '_This much energy… It's beyond anything a Wraith has been able to output_.' He went silent, mulling over his own thoughts.

Homura took a step back. "This is… Impossible!" She stated. The stars in the night were immediately snuffed out, and the light from the moon began to grow harsher.

Mami tilted her head. "Do you know what this is?"

Kyoko stared at the scaffold, now nearing completion as a large, oval-shaped barrier. Small explosions began to echo in the perverted night, the epicenters arising from the egg-like entity. "That thing's a Wraith, isn't it? It has to be…"

"Witch?"

'_Is that what it is?_' Kyubey immediately cut out Homura's nearly inaudible dialogue. '_It's similar to a Wraith… But it's potential energy is outstanding. And it's escalating even higher._' His words almost made it sound like he was drooling at the prospect.

Eventually, the pure-white shell began to rot into several different colors, continuously molting and mixing into themselves. Nearby, the force had attracted dozens upon dozens of Wraiths, a mass of white distortions observing the unnatural phenomenon.

Mami's usual complacent demeanor began to darken. "This energy… It's so… Dark…"

Hundreds of thoughts began to race in Homura's head. "There's no way there's a Witch there." She affirmed, mostly to herself. "Madoka made it impossible for Witches to exist."

Finally, Kyubey turned around. '_It's called The Law of the Cycle, but aren't there exceptions for every law?_'

An unearthly light began to shine down on the barrier, which had started to decay into its darker colors. In the center of the light, just faintly, Homura could see the outline of a familiar figure descending.

"The Law of the Cycle…" Mami repeated.

A powerful burst of light refracted off of the barrier. The figure, whose silhouette was just barely visible, was forced back from recoil.

Homura extended her hand, jumping an incredible distance into the fray. "Madoka! Be careful!" He cried out. Behind her, Kyoko and Mami looked in confusion, unsure whether or not to follow suit. A sudden jolt forced her to stop as the barrier shattered from a force from the inside.

The moon turned green. Immediately, the Wraiths that had encompassed the now-broken barrier froze as constructs of negative energy. Pulses of extremely powerful dark energy poured out of the fading barrier, creating arcs of light from the girls' auras.

Kyubey watched from his vantage over Homura. Just beyond the barrier, a gargantuan tower began to erect from the ground, one large enough that it nearly covered most of the central city in its mass. Its height knew no limit as it continued to climb, its base engulfing more of the city.

"What is this!?" Kyoko yelled out, forced back by the ever widening aura of the tower. Even the visage of Madoka was startled as she retreated higher into the sky.

Kyubey responded the fastest, with a sense of awe. "It's amazing… Such an immense density of pure energy!"

"Madoka's light couldn't even break through the barrier…" Homura thought aloud.

Mami jumped down to stand next to her. "If the Law of the Cycle appeared, doesn't it mean that there's another magical girl there?" She asked, pointing at the black mass leftover of the barrier.

Kyoko hesitantly readied her lance. "Well, whatever it is that's in there, it's not something that the Law could take care of-"

The ground shook, cutting off their conversation. Immense white light blasted out of the barrier, completely overwhelming the moon's overcast gaze. Three ragdoll-like bodies flew out from the center, which had now dissipated into a black mist.

"That's…" Homura's eyes widened.

Kyubey's tail wagged as he observed the situation. "Another being of condensed energy. Is it…?"

She couldn't mistake its aura that pervaded the air. "It's not precisely the same… But…"

Two extremely large wings buffeted the dense black fog away. In its place, a draconic gold and black monster reared its head and extended its wings.

"It's a Witch." Nearly no air moved from her as Homura confirmed its existence.

A deafening roar shook the air. Without any further interactions, the Witch's wings extended even further, acting almost like arms reaching towards the moon, and as quickly as it had revealed itself, a mass of red fog began to cloak it, the tower, and the city itself.

"Witches can't exist anymore!" Homura shouted. No one's voice replied to her. Inside the red fog, she could only hear herself. "Madoka sacrificed herself… So no magical girl would ever suffer that fate again…" She fell to her knees. "What went wrong? Why?"

A gentle breeze pulled the fog away. Before she noticed it, she was back in the presence of Mami, Kyoko, and Kyubey. The moon had returned to normal, and the gargantuan tower had vanished, leaving no trace of its existence. The fog even vanished, leaving the only proof of their phantasmal experience the three bodies that had flown out of the barrier.

The four stood, stunned into silence for what seemed like decades. The night life of Mitakihara town resumed its normal pace.

Taking a deep breath, Mami looked at the three bodies. "We need to make sure those three are okay." The other two looked at her, barely able to acknowledge what they said.

"Y-you're right. It's our job to help people, I guess." Kyoko nodded, recomposing herself. "Besides, if they came outta that thing with that… Erm… Witch… Then, they might know more about it."

* * *

**AN: **Alright, this is part 2 of 3. Like the title suggests, this just a preview of S&G, so now that there's now viewpoints, I bet you all can guess what the final chapter may be about.

So yeah. That'll happen soon. Hope you've enjoyed!


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